Filing-cabinet.



G. M. HARRIS. FILING CABINET. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 6, 1911.

' Patented Mar .21,1911'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Attorneys G. M. HARRIS- FILING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1911.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

2 BHEETE-SHBET 2.

I ZZZ nventor Witnesses Attorheys nu: nonms PETERS ca.. WAsMINrzrcN u CHARLES lVI. HARRIS, 0F BRISTOL, TENNESSEE.

FILING- CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Application filed January 5, 1911. Serial No. 600,946.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES M. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bristol, in the count-y of Sullivan and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Filing-Cabinet, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel cabinet in which may be filed account books, pass books, and the like, the aim of the invention being to so construct the cabinet that the upper portions of each of a number of books will be exposed to view whereby the name of the person whose account is kept in the books, will be displayed to view, and the selection of any book desired from the entire number of books may be readily and quickly accomplished.

Particularly is the cabinet embodying the present invention designed for use by grocers and other merchants having a number of account customers but not a suflicient number to warrant the employment of a bookkeeper. It is desirable that a merchant doing this class of business should be able at a moments notice to determine the amount due on the account of any one of his account customers and while this may be accom plished by using the ordinary pass book, it not infrequently happens that the customer will forget to bring the book and reference to day books and ledgers is therefore necessary. This is inconvenient aside from the fact that this method of keeping accounts necessitates the employment of a bookkeeper.

It has been proposed to substitute for the ordinary pass book, a book similar to the ordinary sales book used in department and like stores, the book being so constructed that duplicate record will be made of the purchase made by the customer, one of which records is upon a leaf of the book and the other of which records is torn from the book and presented to the customer. Then, by referring to the book, the merchant can tell at a glance the amount of any account. However, in order to find a desired one of the number of books used, it is usually necessary to look through a number of the books before the proper one can be found.

The present invention therefore aims to provide a cabinet particularly designed to hold account books of this last described type, the books being so supported that any one book may be readily and quickly re moved from among the entire number of books without disturbing the arrangement of the other books.

In order that the portions of the books upon which the customers names are written may be all exposed to view, it is of course essential that the books be supported in relatively displaced relation and the entire number of books when so arranged, of course takes up more room that if the books are arranged one directly behind and flat against another. It would obviously be inconvenient to place the books in an ordinary safe in such relative arrangement, and therefore the invention contemplates so constructing the support for the books that the entire number of books may be removed from the cabinet, simultaneously, and in the act of removal will assume a position one behind another so that when the entire number of books are removed from the cabinet they will be so assembled as to occupy but the minimum amount of space and therefore can 'be conveniently placed in an ordinary safe.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a filing cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view therethrough. Fig. 3 is a vertical section view taken in a plane from front to rear, the holder for the books being illustrated as partly removed from the easing of the cabinet. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one form of pocket employed in holding the books. Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating a slightly modified form of pocket. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a portion of the cabinet.

In the drawings, the cabinet is illustrated as embodying a casing including a rear wall 6 and side walls 7, and where a large number of books are to be arranged in the cabinet, the casing of the cabinet is constructed of considerable width and is divided between its side walls by a partition 8. However, it will be readily understood that the partition 8 performs the same function as does either one of the side walls 7. The walls 6 and 7 and the partition 8 are mounted upon a base 9 which at its front is preferably formed with a recess 10, and in the instance of a double casing, such as shown in Fig. l of the drawings, with two of these recesses, one located between each side wall 7 and the partition 8. The upper edges of the side walls 7 and the partition 8 are inclined downwardly and forwardly as at 11.

In addition to the casing, above described, the cabinet includes one or more holders designed for disposal within the casing. Each of these holders comprises side walls 12, a front wall 13, and a rear wall 14, the holder being open at its top and bottom except that a narrow strip 15 is extended from front to rear of the bottom of the holder, it being secured at its ends to the lower edges of the corresponding walls 13 and 14:. The function of this strip will be presently fully explained.

The cabinet further embodies a number of pockets shown in Figs. at and 5, these pockets being designed to receive the account books to be filed in the cabinet and comprising each a front wall 16, a rear wall 17, end walls 18, and a bottom 19. These pockets are of a width from front to rear equal to a little more than the thickness of any one of the books to be filed in the cabinet and the pockets may be of a length to contain one, two or three of the books side by side. In any event, the pockets are of a length equal to the width of the holder in which they are to be arranged and in arranging the pockets in the holder, they are placed one behind another and resting upon the strip 15, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The pockets above described may be either of the form shown in Fig. 4: or of the form shown in Fig. 5 in which latter form their front walls 16 are open except at their ends. The pockets are of a depth less than the height of the books so that the upper end portion of each book will project above the top of the pocket into which it is fitted. Thus, by writing the name of the person whose account is in the book, upon the front of the book at the top thereof, the name will be exposed or presented to view above the top of the pocket.

Secured upon the base 9 between each side wall 7 and the partition 8, of the casing, and in a vertical plane to each side of the recess 10 in the base, are two uprights 20 the forward edges of which are stepped as at 21 or in other words are formed with a number of shoulders extending in a series from front to rear. The distance between the opposing sides of the uprights 20 is slightly greater than the width of the strip 15 so that when the holder is disposed within the casing, these uprights. In order that the holder may be so disposed, the rear vertical edge of each upright is spaced from the rear wall of the casing as is clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the rear wall 14 of the holder, when the holder is properly disposed within the casing, being between the said edge of the uprights and the said wall of the said strip will extend betweenthe casing. This engagement of the rear wall of the holder between the said edge of the uprights and the said wall of the casing serves to prevent removal of the holder by withdrawing it forwardly from the casing. In fact, to remove the holder from the easing, the former must be lifted directly vertically from the casing.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that as the holder is lowered into the casing, the pockets in the holder will seat successivley from front to rear upon the steps or shoulders of the uprights and will, when the holder has reached its final position, be supported by the steps or shoulders in the relatively displaced relation illus trated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings.

The books being thus positioned, the names 7 written thereon at their upper ends will be visible at a glance and consequently any one of the books may be readily and quickly removed from the entire number of books for the purpose of entering a purchase, and its removal will not disturb the arrangement of the other books. At this point it will be noted that when the holder has been properly disposed within the casing, the rear ones of the pockets will be entirely removed 7 y from the holder and will be supported upon the shoulders of the uprights between the side walls 7 and the partition 8. It will further be understood at this point that by disposing the finger beneath the forward portion of the strip 15 and in the recess 10 and the thumb against the upper edge of the front wall of the holder, the holder may be readily lifted from the casing and during its upward movement from the casing will automatically collect the pockets in which the books are contained, and will hold these pockets one behind and flat against anotherin the manner illustrated in the left hand portion of Fig. 3 of the drawing. When the pockets are thus arranged in the holder, the holder may be readily placed in an ordinary safe and will occupy no more space than the books themselves in stacking in the ordinary manner. 7

In order to properly guide the holders 12 to position in the cabinet, strips 22 are secured to the rear edges of the uprights 20, and project, at their upper ends, above the uprights, is secured to the rear wall of each holder a spacing strip 24 which serves the purpose of spacing the rearmost pocket 16 from the rear wall of the holder, a suflicient distance to permit of the projection of the strip 22 up between the said rearmost pocket and the said rear wall of the holder.- The relative arrangement of the spacing strips and the strip 22 is clearly shown in Fig. '6 of the drawings.

What is claimed is:

for the purpose stated. Also, there casing, a stepped upright mounted therein ,,,,---and spaced from the back wall thereof, a

holder removably fitted in the casing and arranged for the projection thereinto of the said upright, one wall of the holder, when the holder is in the casing, being received between the upright and the said rear wall of the casing whereby the holder will be held in place in the casing, and a plurality of pockets removably fitted in the holder and adapted to be supported in stepped relation by the said upright.

2. In a cabinet of the class described, a casing, a stepped upright mounted therein. the upright extending from front to rear of the casing with its rear vertical edge spaced from the rear wall of the casing, a holder removably fitted in the casing and slotted for the projection thereinto of the said upright, the rear wall of the holder being confined between the said rear edge of the upright and the said rear wall of the casing, the casing being open at its front and the engagement of the rear wall oft-he holder between the upright and the rear wall of the casing constituting a means for preventing forward withdrawal of the holder from the casing, and a plurality of pockets removably fitted in the holder and adapted to be supported upon the said stepped upright.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto ailixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES M. HARRIS. Witnesses J. \V. DovnLL,

RALPH OVERMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

